1830 first edition Book of Mormon appraised at $100,000 on 'Antiques Roadshow'

Ken Sanders met with a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose family converted to the LDS Church after receiving this first edition copy of the Book of Mormon in 1833.

PBS

Summary

"Antiques Roadshow" made its way to Boise, where an appraiser found an item he had never seen before.

"Antiques Roadshow" made its way to Boise, Idaho, in an episode that aired on PBS this week. The segment featured something that was new to the appraiser but familiar to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Appraiser Ken Sanders, owner of Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake City, met with the owner of the first edition copy of the Book of Mormon, whose family converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after receiving the book in 1833. The owner's name was not released.

According to the segment, the book has traveled from Massachusetts and been carried out West through Missouri to Salt Lake and then Oregon. It has gone through five generations and still remains in good condition. The book was first given to the family as it was investigating the LDS faith and eventually converted.

On the inside of the book there are five signatures for each member of the family the book has been passed down to. Because of this family history, and because of the condition of the book, Sanders raised the appraisal amount from $75,000 to $100,000.

"It's really quite remarkable because in my almost four decades in the rare book business this is the oldest copy in the sense of being under continuous ownership that I've ever come across before," Sanders said.

"It isn't technically the rarest version of the Book of Mormon, but it's really — for LDS people — it's the one that everyone knows and understands and wants."

Other items related to Mormon history have appeared on the "Antiques Roadshow" before. When the show visited Salt Lake City in June 2006, a first edition of The Pearl of Great Price was presented.

Popular Comments

Reporter Sarah Petersen obviously did not understand the Antiques Roadshow
segment she watched and does not know of Ken Sander's decades long career
of dealing in early Mormon and early Utah books. She rather insultingly claimed
that the Book of
More..

12:07 a.m. Jan. 10, 2014

Top comment

antodav

TAMPA, FL

It's worth far more than that. You can't put a price tag on the
fullness of the Gospel.

Sarah Sanders Petersen writes for the Faith and Family sections on DeseretNews.com. Sarah received a bachelors degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. more ..